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During World War II, many creameries saw a transition from milk products to egg-drying facilities. New technology of the time allowed eggs to be dried and powdered, which preserved them for troop use on the front lines. They were also used by civilians.

This week’s Throwback Thursday shows the cracking of eggs in one of these factories. The people, often women, hired by the factories would crack eggs over the small bar in front of them into the small cups below it. They would then smell them for quality and finally dump the white and yolk into the buckets on one side, while the shells would go into a bucket on the other side. The eggs then went through a process in which hot air dehydrated them.

Due to the longer shelf life and space-saving in shipments, this powdered product became extremely useful. In fact, approximately a quarter of all the eggs in the U.S. were powdered and shipped to the Allies as part of the 1941 Lend-Lease Program.

The ladies in this photo were certainly gettin’ crackin’ as part of the World War II war effort.

2015:028:138 SDAHM Collection, donated by Adele Sudlow